Fading
by ADIAROSAIRAM
Summary: After a successful mission the team find themselves stranded in a mountain. Weird things start to happen and feelings start to surface and an unexpected visitor appears in need of their help. ConnerxMegan. WallyxArtemis. RoyxCheshire. Review please :
1. Chapter 1

The footsteps of the six young heroes bounced around the walls of the cave. The silence from behind them reassured them that they were not being followed, a sign that they had succeeded. The redheaded speedster struggled not to outrun his friends though he clearly was the one leading them through the tunnels of the dark cave. Close to the speedster ran the clone of superman and by his side his martian girlfriend ran with her hand in his for she was too tired to fly and he was not willing to let her fall behind him. At his other side ran the blonde archer, helping their leader keep up since he had gotten hurt during battle. The world's biggest detective's prodigy ran close behind them, ready to take the weight of the merman in case Artemis got too tired.

Wally smiled as the exit came into view and sped up, not caring anymore to leave his friends behind since they would clearly make it to the exit. Once they were all outside they walked into the woods where they had left Megan's ship, their ride home. Kaldur lifted his arm up and stepped away from Artemis so she wouldn't have to struggle with his weight and walked over to the ship. The last one in was Conner, who stayed outside a bit to check that no one had gone after them. Inside he saw Megan sitting on her usual seat in the center of the ship, her eyes closed but clearly still awake. He sat on the floor near her feat and rested his head on her lap, letting her know he was there. On the left side of the ship, Wally had taken a seat and was staring at Artemis, looking at her up and down making sure she was ok. One single scratch would make him go crazy, if he couldn't stand the idea of his friends hurt how would he expect that he would be under control if something happened to her? Why he worried so much about her was one of the biggest mysteries he had ever encountered.

Kaldur had clearly fallen asleep as soon as he sat down. Artemis didn't even bother to sit down, she just plopped herself on the floor and lay there until she fell asleep. Wally smiled at her, she wasn't like most girls, she didn't care if the floor was dirty or if her hair was ok and he liked that about her. The boy wonder seemed to be the only member who wasn't tired. It was late, probably 1 in the morning and the trip home would be long so Robin walked over to his best friend and took a seat next to him, shaking his head as he glanced at Superboy and Megan, though he found them to be sweet.

After what seemed like hours they finally felt the ship slowly land on a rough surface. The groggy teenagers didn't feel in the mood to even pay attention to it. At last Kaldur opened one eye only to be met with blue. The density of the air wasn't what scared him the most but the view he had. His surprisement was cut off by the groans of a curious redheaded that poked his face out of his little space where he had decided to crash into sleep.

"Where are we?" He said sleepily. Opening his eyes more carefully he was surprised to wake up to the most awful sight. Conner and Megan were still asleep in a cuddling position. She rested her head on the crook of his shoulder while he was lazily spread across the bioship's chair. What was it... Was he feeling... Sick.. No ... Maybe.. Jealous.. Yes that was it jealous. Debating with himself to attend to Kaldur's problem or with his obvious bitterness towards his denial that they were a couple he reluctantly changed position only to fall head first with a thick rug of hair. "OWW! Watch it!" Snapped the blonde owner of the hair. Kaldur was still watching silently deciding that the current problem of being stranded on a mountain was probably going to be postponed.

"What happened?" the voice of the youngest hero was the only sound in the ship. The humming the ship made when it was active was gone. No sign of it whatsoever. The boy of steel's ears rang with the sudden sounds around him, waking him up but did not move for Megan was still asleep. He scanned the scene around him with a narrow gaze, searching for any sign of danger that might threaten him or his friends. When he was sure that everything and everyone was safe, he relaxed his position and got up, careful not to wake his girlfriend. Artemis was rubbing her head as she glared at Wally who was smirking at her anger but Conner knew that no hate ran between them. None at all.

Robin was up on the dashboard of the ship; he cupped his hands around his eyes and pressed them against the glass to get a look of where they were. The landscape was dark and some silhouettes could be seen here and there but there was nothing that gave away their location. He groaned and he hopped off the dashboard and paced around the ship, no panic washed over him as his mind danced around the possibilities of where they could and what could they do to get out.

"It's her." said the blonde girl who had given up on trying to get her revenge on Wally and pointed her finger at the form of the sleeping Martian. Kaldur frowned and shook his head at Artemis' words. There was no way Megan was the reason behind all what was happening, after all she wanted to get home as much as every other member of the team. ''No, she's right.'' Kaldur was surprised when he heard the booming voice of Conner, he was the only one that hadn't talked and his voice was definitely the loudest. ''What do you mean?'' Wally asked clearly feeling as confused as Kaldur. Robin seemed oblivious as to what was happening around him, his mind somewhere else.

''She's too tired to power it. She tried to stay awake long enough to get close to the Cave but she fell asleep. The bio ship needs her to run and she's drained out of energy.'' Artemis explained as she saw the merman's brows relax from the frown they had been knit in. ''I say we spend the night here, wherever we are, she will be fine in the morning."

Everybody was wide awake after resting so long. Everyone except Megan, who was placed carefully on her seat at the middle of the bioship wrapped around here were two strong arms that belonged to her boyfriend. "Its 3 am" the boy wonder murmured from his seat almost as if he was just talking to himself. After several minutes of awkward silence Wally got bored. He began shuffling in his seat very distracted and started playing with his fingers. "Well... we should do something?" He finally said trying hard not to think of food at the time.

"We could play a game! What about truth or dare?" The little 13 year old said a little too excited. " I'd rather not" replied Artemis coldly. "Fine if she doesn't want to she doesn't have to" replied the most unexpected one. Wally. He always had something to say, just to start an argument with her, he enjoyed bickering with her. But he didn't. 'Was he avoiding her?' She thought silently in her mind "I bet you're just scared" blurted out Robin with a cocky smirk. Artemis glared at him. Wally began pacing but ended up sitting next to Megan. Conner remained silent the entire time his gaze wandering around, looking at Wally to Robin to Artemis to Kaldur and end up on Megan. Just to be sure. He had promised not to be protective on missions but he couldn't help it. His nature was to care. Like he did for wolf or sphere. Like he wished Superman would understand. Rage was suddenly blurring his vision at the thought. He felt a hand touch his shoulder in, it belonged to Kaldur. He was probably watching his internal battle the whole time. "We should stop them." he simply said.

"Lets play then." Conner said with a slight grin deciding he would forget about his anger. Maybe he just needed some silly game to cool off.

They all gathered in a circle. Wally had his unique goofy grin plastered on his face. Clearly he was exited. Artemis had been dragged along by Conner and Kaldur who silently obliged her to do so just to pass time until Megan awoke. Robin had a playful look and it made him look creepy. "I'll start" he began happily. "Wally truth or dare?"

"DARE!" He yelled almost instantly. "Good, I was expecting that." Robin started grinning now.

"Your dare is to kiss Megan"

"WHAT?" Kid Flash's face brightened. Superboy was standing up in a flash, fists clenched, his jaw tightened and his eyes fixed directly on Robin with so much hate he could kill him with a look. Kaldur was trying to sit him down unsuccessfully. Robin let out a chuckle although it seemed kind of nervous and said "Just kidding your dare is to punch Superboy in the face."

"Like that makes it any better." Superboy muttered darkly. Wally's face

showed horror. He would surely break his hand trying. " I thought we were being nice for a second." Wally said raising his fist and was about to punch Conner when Robin stopped him "Wait! I changed my mind he said eying Artemis by the corner of his eyes.

She shot him a 'better not be what I'm thinking look' and he smirked and said "Ok better idea I dare you to run around the ship until you trip over something or until game ends." Wally was tired since he hadn't eaten in hours and with an inaudible murmur he began his laps at super speed. The only sign of him now were the blurs all over the ship.

It was Superboy's turn to ask. "Um …Artemis truth or dare?" Not wanting to invent a stupid lie she chose dare. "Okay" he said pausing for a moment to think

"Kiss Robin" Everybody looked shocked. Even Kaldur hadn't expected that. A loud crash was heard. Wally had tripped with a chair while they were exchanging words. Artemis looked at Robin shyly. She had never ever even thought about kissing him. He didn't talk to her much and was the only person who made her feel vulnerable, and the age was something she wasn't going to think about right now. Robin had a priceless expression, he had a dark blush covering his cheeks and deep inside he was actually considering doing it. Wally was recovering from his fall and had a small tinge of red on his cheeks from running…or maybe from something else but managed to stand and was about to interrupt the game when an explosion was heard from afar. Suddenly a loud thump was heard even closer. All of them rose to a combat position when Red Arrow appeared at the entrance of the bioship. All eyes were on him when he came to light Artemis gasped, Robin remained with his poker face, Kaldur and Wally was already beside him helping him as he almost fell. Superboy was silent. Red arrow had appeared out of nowhere smeared in blood and sweat, several cuts around his body, his fists were clenched and in one of them he held his bow tightly and had no arrows in his quiver. "Cheshire" was the only word they were able to hear before he collapsed and passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Roy was confused. He didn't know how the hell he had gotten where he was. He couldn't even focus. The room seemed to sway every time he tried to move and so he decided to just lie there, in the cold floor. He tried really hard to remember what happened but the throbbing in his head wasn't helping and he felt as if he had carried a car for three days. His bones felt like glass, ready to break at any moment and he could tell he had a broken rib, what was odd though was that it wasn't hurting as much as it should be so he figured someone must've helped him. Finally he was able to move his head without getting dizzy and sat up. His vision was blurry at first but started to sharpen. The first thing he saw was the color yellow and then it was moving. He could make a blonde girl coming closer to him and she smiled a bit as she kneeled next to him, checking the wounds on his arm, the touch of her fingers sending electric shocks through his body.

He found himself staring at her. The throbbing in his head started to increase again. He tried to remember something important he needed to tell her, wait, not her, ... The team but... His mind was fuzzy when he started recalling. He felt a loose strand of blonde hair caress his arm as she came closer to inspect his wounds. He was shirt less, apparently he had been taken good care of because he was not feeling too much pain at his side at the moment. He became fond of the way she was inspecting him, carefully, like she knew what she was doing, and her eyes made him curious, like he had seen that shape of eyes, he was now enjoying the way her cheeks gave a light shade of pink when he suddenly tried to sit up and the clean sheet that was covering him fell giving her a complete view of his bare chest and stomach.

"Where am I?" he said firmly to her who abruptly looked away crossing her arms with a scoff.

"Psshh yeah, play dumb, you only passed out its not like you lost your memory" she said defensively.

He knew this girl. Artemis. The one who had replaced him as Green Arrow's prodigy. He had threatened her not to hurt his friends and when he realized she wouldn't do anything to harm them he had stopped being so mean to her but he never let his guard down. The rest of the team wasn't there, only him and her. He stayed silent for a while, staring at her and then he cleared his throat. "Um, where is everyone?"

Artemis cocked her head to the side. Surely he would've realized that they had gone after Cheshire after he barged in and literally fell at her feet. He had been left with her and Kaldur to help take care of him but the team needed help so Kaldur went over. "They went after Cheshire." she said.

His muscles tensed at the sound of the assassin's name and his eyes darted to every corner of the room in search for her, he relaxed when he found no traces of her and soon realized he was in the bioship. "What am I doing here?"

"Stop playing Roy." she answered but she searched his eyes, in case he was being sincere and couldn't remember. She found no sign that he was lying and she swallowed hard. If he had forgotten his mission how would they help him complete it?

"You were on a mission." he opened his mouth to ask what it was but she cut him off "We don't know what it is. Cheshire hurt you and you found the ship. You barged in and passed out, the team is out there right now, looking for Cheshire"

His heart fell. He understood perfectly well the situation. Without him remembering what he was doing there how would they know what to look for or what to stop? They were too far to go back and get information on the mission and by the time came back Cheshire would be gone. They would have to continue blindly until he recovered his memory.

He was still watching Artemis carefully. Suddenly a loud voice was heard outside the bioship. 'Someone came back' the injured archer thought. Wally appeared in the doorway his cheeks flushed from the cold outside. The search was useless he knew that. Wally probably used his super speed and arrived first leaving the rest of the team behind.

"Hey Artemis did Roy awake alre-" he began but was cut short because of the scene in front of him. Artemis still had her hand mindlessly on Roy's arm and he was still in a sitting position without a shirt. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out. He was feeling the awkward silence right now. He definitely wasn't thinking on punching an injured man, much less his friend, for the proximity he had on Artemis. Why would he? He didn't like her or anything. It wasn't like he owned her. Buried in the back of his mind was a passionate worry for the archer but he would deny it. The train of thought was stopped when another female redheaded floated graciously towards him, followed by her boyfriend who walked with a frown next to a frustrated Aqualad who didn't notice what was happening between the three of them at the moment. Robin hadn't arrived yet and no one noticed that he wasn't following the group either.

The group didn't notice him running off on his own. Kaldur was too busy looking for Cheshire, Conner had to knock out opponents every now and then and Megan was still a bit drowsy so when they boy wonder slipped off no one took notice of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Conner sat on the floor while Megan cleaned his cuts, Kaldur was looking out the windows in case Robin appeared and Wally sat with a frown on Megan's chair. Artemis could feel his eyes burning a hole into the back of her head. Roy was aware of the tension between the pair but remained silent knowing well that he was the reason that Wally was acting like this. Then he felt someone looking at him but he didn't dare to turn around and see who it was because he knew it was Wally and he did not want to meet his friend's angry green eyes. He tried to stand up but failed as the pain in his chest returned. He turned to Artemis to see if she would come to his aid and she almost turned around but didn't, instead she continued to stare at the wall of the ship lost in thought. Megan flew over to him and told him to lie down. He did as he was told and she started inspecting his wounds.

"You broke some of your ribs, you shouldn't try to stand up for a while." she told him. Roy nodded slightly and she flew back to her boyfriend. He would lie down for at least one hour and then he would try to get up again, he couldn't stand lying there for the whole time. He turned his head to look at Artemis again but this time she was staring at Wally with a pained look. Wally was staring at the floor now though the frown on his face never left.

"Megan try to see if there is a way to go back to the cave" Kaldur's voice interrupted Wally's concentration on the floor.

"Sure I just-" she couldn't finish her sentence. She fainted conveniently on Conner's arms. "Megan!" Conner yelled frightened as everybody else turned to see her faint so randomly. "Wally check her vital signs, Conner carry her to the chair, Artemis stay with Roy in case he needs help, Robin check if you can communicate with the Cave" Kaldur began ordering to keep everyone calm. Everybody started doing their tasks as they were commanded except Robin. "Um… Kaldur ... I don't think Robin could hear you" came Artemis' muffled voice at the back of the bioship next to Roy who was currently sitting straight as if he had sensed something. Kaldur lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?" The ship started shaking as he finished speaking, the trembling sending him to his knees as he tried to stand without success..

"Megan?" Conner yelled as Wally took her from his arms and put her on her chair. Her lips were pale and she was sweating like crazy. Conner bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from screaming and didn't let go even though he had started tasting blood. Wally was checking her pulse and let out a breath.

"She has pulse but its going slow." he said looking up at Kaldur. The leader didn't know what to do. The ship had stopped shaking but before they could go out and figure out what had happened they had to figure out what was wrong with the Martian. He froze when all eyes went to him for answers. He stared at the Martian in concern, what happened to her? She did seem horribly exhausted after their mission and had just woken up. What if she had gotten hurt badly?

Kaldur frowned and started pacing. The door to the bioship had opened when the ship started shaking and a fresh breeze came inside carrying the scent of mountain laurel. As soon as he caught the scent of the flower it became clear to him that they were in a mountain somewhere. The scent of the mountain laurel reminded him of Black Canary who had once said that she was allergic to Daisies.

Suddenly Kaldur's eyes widened and he rushed over to close the door. Then he walked over to Megan and started fanning the air around her.

"What are you doing Kaldur?" asked Artemis raising one of her eyebrows.

"I overheard once that Martians have a weakness here on Earth. It doesn't kill them but it knocks them out. Its almost as if they are allergic to them."

"What is it?" Conner asked impatiently.

"Mountain Laurel, this mountain is filled with mountain laurel." he said while fanning the air around Megan.

Megan groaned and everybody turned to look at her. She was still unconscious but with the door closed she seemed to be gaining some color.

"We need to get out off this mountain." said Conner looking worriedly at his girlfriend. Kaldur shook his head.

"We have to discuss this first. If we leave then Cheshire gets away and we have to find Robin."

The Kryptonian looked around as if he had just noticed the absence of the youngest hero. "Fine." he said. "Lets go find him and figure out what the hell Cheshire is doing here but Megan stays here."

**MINUTES LATER**

They were now in complete darkness and their hearing and feeling senses activated automatically. Everyone kept silent except for the small whimpers Megan gave now and then from the smell of the flower that was left. Wally was worried, he was blind and he was panicking now.

"Guys what's happening!" came his anxious cry. He tried to balance himself on a chair but couldn't find one. Finally he could feel something. Rather someone and it wasn't strong and toned so it couldn't be Conner, it wasn't tall either so it wasn't Kaldur and Roy was still sitting on the floor because of his broken ribs. He kept tapping until he could feel a smooth shoulder. "What? Are you scared of dark?" a witty remark from the blonde female could be heard close to his ear. He backed away forcefully, as if he was touching a boiling pan. There was no noise after that.

Had he just ignored her? She suddenly felt hurt and was glad Wally couldn't see it in her eyes because of the darkness in the bioship."Quit moving we need to find something to light the ship." Roy said sensing the tension. The air became thick and it was hard to breathe now, they realized it wasn't just the tension that made it hard to breathe but it was actually starting to lack oxygen around them. " Can't- breathe" and that was the last they could remember.


	4. Chapter 4

Being the daughter of a superhero you would've thought that Zatanna's life would be filled with excitement and adventures. It was sometimes but most of the time she spent it at home, learning new spells or moves. It wasn't completely necessary that she learn hand-to-hand combat since her fighting wasn't psychical but she wanted to.

Though she liked the hours she spent practicing it was for nothing if she wasn't allowed into combat. Her friends helped the Justice League on a regular basis and she was stuck because her father refused to let her join her friends' team. She knew perfectly well that her father was trying to protect her and she was grateful to him for that but she could fight now and her friends would have her back.

Now she sat on her bed too bored for her liking. She sighed and decided to head over to the Cave. At least her father let her do this. She knew the team had a mission but would be back by this morning. She always had fun with them; maybe she could hang out with Artemis and Megan or play video games with the guys. Anything to help her boredom fade away.

The moment she walked in she knew something was wrong. The place was too quiet and after checking she confirmed it was empty too. 'Maybe they went out?' she thought but she knew better than that. Before they left for their mission and she headed home, Wally had spilled a glass of coke over the kitchen counter. Surely someone would've cleaned it up after they returned. Wolf acted as if he hadn't seen anyone since they left and he looked as if he wanted to go out. Zatanna patted his head and he followed her eagerly to the entrance. She let him out, knowing he would return when he was ready and got her cellphone out to contact her father.

Zatara was out on a mission with Batman and Red Tornado so apparently he wasn't going to answer his phone any time soon. The amateur magician gave up trying to contact her father and sat on the cave's living room. This made no sense. She decided she could ask black canary when her throat started clenching inhibiting the path of air. A mystical chanting echoed in the silence as she gasped for air. She didn't realize it was her voice that was pronouncing the spell, her delicate fingers crossed in a pattern and just like that she vanished.

She was falling but only for a bit. Then she hit a hard, cold surface. "What was that?" came a voice to her right. Was it Artemis? No, it couldn't be. But still..."Artemis?" Zatanna called out.

"Zatanna?" said another voice who she was sure belonged to Wally. She couldn't see a thing, it was dark and cold. She stood up still cautious about her surroundings. "What's going on?" she asked.

"How did you get here?" asked Kaldur. Now Zatanna realized that the whole team was there. She said a spell in a low voice and her hands gave off a bright light. It was enough to for them to see one another now and a bit of the room too. She took in the faces of her friends all confused as to how she had ended up here and honestly she was confused too. Then she noticed that she was wrong, the whole team was there along with Roy but Robin was nowhere to be seen.

She started pacing nervously, her confusion clearly seen in her visage. Too many questions crossed her head as she tried to place how she had gotten there. Most importantly "W-where is Robin?" The magician questioned finally regaining her voice. "We have no knowledge about him either." Kaldur informed seemingly frustrated with their current state. " And we have no idea where we are... But wait how did you get here?" Interrupted Wally. "I-I don't know it just happened, the spell I mean, I've had these times where I cast spells without consent but I don't know I can't transport to other places yet.."

"So what happened?" inquired Artemis. "I don't know" Zatanna concluded. "I know" came a low whisper inside the ship. Everyone was alert; Cheshire had entered the ship too.

Robin was fighting to stay awake. Last thing he remembered was going off with the others and just as he turned around to examine something everything went black. Then he woke up though he still couldn't see a thing. He in a chair, not tied up but not able to move. He could just make out some shadows and that was it, nothing more. It scared him but he maintained his calm demeanor. He wanted to call out to his friends but his tongue felt heavy and his eyes were closing again. The next time he woke up the room was light up. It took some time for Robin to adjust to the new brightness; it felt as if a million light bulbs were turned on in the room when in reality there were only two. He could move now but he was tied up this time. He bowed his head and kept his eyes on the floor to block out some of the light. Then the hair on the back of his neck stood up as he saw a cat near his feet and he knew exactly who that cat belonged to.

*at the ship*

"What do you mean by that!" Everyone readied themselves in fight stances but Cheshire lifted her arms in sign of surrender. "Well well well, why the hostility I just came to answer your doubts."Lifting her mask to reveal her face she smirked playfully at Artemis. Then her gaze stopped in roy and gave him a quick wink. Everyone fell silent. Even if she had come in peace they couldn't just trust her like that.

"Why are you here" Artemis demanded keeping her hand near her bow. " A better question is why are you here?" She asked as she began walking around her.

Wally looked impatient as if he would flip out any minute. "You know,it isn't even my fault you are here, nor the fact that red here is injured." She gestured at red arrow and looked about to continue until Wally finally yelled. "Tell us why we are here already!"

Cheshire looked annoyed for his outburst but answered calmly. " Well if you're so insistent, you were brought here by that witch boy,who was it..." "Klarion!" Kaldur finished for her. "Yes him.. Well he said something about locking all the sidekicks in this dimension I just finished my job of bringing you here." She narrated seemingly bored and sat next to Roy crossing her legs. "I would try to get out of here before midnight if I were you." Everyone was silent, Cheshire just stared at Roy who was deep in thought. "How do we know this is true?" Artemis questioned afraid of the answer. "You don't." Her sister responded and with that she threw a smoke bomb and vanished.


End file.
